Day after ammonia leak, dead fish wash ashore in Ennore
Prabhakaran Veeraarasu, an environmental engineer working with Poovulagin Nanbargal, said ammonia would react with water and become ammonium hydroxide.
Hundreds of dead fish have washed ashore near Periyakuppam and Chinnakuppam where the plant is located
CHENNAI: Even as the residents of Ennore are fuming over the plumes of ammonia leaking from a subsea pipeline belonging to Coromandel International Limited, a fertilizer manufacturing plant, hundreds of dead fish have washed ashore near Periyakuppam and Chinnakuppam where the plant is located.
A fisherman who shared videos of dead fish washed ashore said the fish were dying because the ammonia gas got mixed with seawater. “The oil spill has already affected our livelihood. Now, the gas leak has also started to kill the fish. Initially, small fish will die and then bigger ones will also succumb to the toxicity,” he lamented.
Prabhakaran Veeraarasu, an environmental engineer working with Poovulagin Nanbargal, said ammonia would react with water and become ammonium hydroxide.
“Ammonium hydroxide will affect the eyes, gills and skin of fishes in a very short time. They will lose breathing capacity and die. As a long-term effect, ammonium hydroxide will increase the pH level and impair growth. Just half a cup of ammonium hydroxide getting mixed with 37 lakh litres of water is enough to affect certain types of fish. In this case in Ennore, several tonnes of ammonia have been mixed,” he explained.
As per the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) report, as much as 49 mg/L of ammonia was found in Ennore against the accepted level of 5 mg/L.
K Saravanan, a fisherman-activist, said that the Fisheries Department should collect samples of dead fish and conduct an autopsy to scientifically confirm that they died because of the ammonia leak. “If one or two fish wash ashore, it may not be a concern. But when hundreds of them die, testing should be done. Within two hours after the gas leak, fishermen noticed dead fish washing ashore. Fish have washed ashore between the back gate of the fertilizer company to the groynes. Scientific confirmation is a must to fight the issue legally,” he said.
Saravanan alleged that the Pollution Control Board failed to test the air beyond 5 km from the leak site, as testing was conducted only after three hours.
Meanwhile, residents and fishermen in villages around Ennore convened a meeting where it was decided to constitute Ennore Makkal Pathukappu Kuzhu (Ennore Residents’ Protection Group). The fishermen also have decided to legally fight Coromandel International Limited.
A resolution adopted in the meeting said that the protests should be continued till the fertilizer plant is permanently shut. They have also decided to reject the relief items offered by Coromandel International Limited.